Re: Debian trademark, EAN, proposed letter, SPI heads-up

Ian Jackson writes ("Debian trademark, EAN, proposed letter, SPI heads-up"):
> We (Debian, me specifically) are about to ask Free Software
> Conservancy for legal advice - specifically whether there is anything
> wrong with this proposed letter.

I am picking this up again now after a long delay. Sorry about that.
We had a reply from Conservancy. They weren't able to offer us formal
legal advice. On an informal basis they did say that they didn't see
anything wrong with the letter, but cautioned us that they weren't
experts in the relevant areas of law or the relevant jurisdictions.

Personally I am sufficienty reassured that we should draft this
letter. The DPL delegated this matter to me, but: Chris, are you now
content ? Would you be happy with me putting my name on the bottom of
this letter ?

SPI: are you willing to have the SPI Secretary sign this letter ? If
not, who should we ask for further legal advice ? Michael Schultheiss
suggested SFLC but I don't think that any involvement of Debian or SPI
with SFLC is or would be appropriate.

If this all meets with everyone's approval I will make a nice-looking
pdf, with some logos, for the SPI Secretary and me to sign and scan.
We can then put the final scan on our website somewhere.

Thanks,
Ian.

> === draft letter ===
>
> RE DEBIAN - EUROPEAN ARTICLE NUMBER (EAN)
>
> To Whom It May Concern
>
> The Debian Project ("Debian") and Software In The Public Interest
> Inc ("SPI") wish to make known that:
>
> 1. Debian, through its Trusted Organisations including SPI, owns and
> controls the trademark "Debian" in various jurisdictions.
>
> 2. Debian does not provide European Article Numbers (EANs). Nor do
> any of Debian's associated organisations do so on Debian's behalf.
>
> 3. Debian and SPI give public permission for products embodying
> Debian's software and documentation to be sold, according to the
> Debian Trademark Policy (which can be found at
> https://www.debian.org/trademark). That policy does not make any
> requirement about EANs. Therefore (provided the policy is adhered
> to) we have no objection to Debian branded products being sold without
> EANs.
>
> 4. Debian do not anticpate this situation changing in the next 2
> years. Specifically, we do not expect to be issuing EANs within the
> next 2 years.
>
> 5. Please therefore allow vendors of Debian merchandise to trade,
> notwithstanding any lack of EANs for those products.
>
> 6. This is without predjudice, of course, to our right to enforce our
> trademarks against anyone found violating our trademark policy. We
> are simply saying that lack of an EAN is, in itself, completely fine.
>
> Signed
>
> for the Debian Project for Software in the Public Intere